Green Hope upends Jordan on the road in NCHSAA volleyball playoffs
After his team lost to Athens Drive in the season finale in a five-set thriller, Green Hope volleyball coach Karl Redelfs said the players “refocused and re-rallied.”
The Falcons took out their frustrations on Jordan Saturday, sweeping the match 3-0 in the first round of the NCHSAA 4A volleyball playoffs. Green Hope (15-7) advances to play arch-rival Panther Creek. The two teams split during the regular season.
Green Hope swept Jordan (16-7) for the season after defeating the Falcons 3-1 in September. In both matches, Green Hope used its advantage in the middle with players Abby Kott and Allison O’Connor to help overpower Jordan.
“Our middle hitting has been carrying us all season,” Redelfs said. “Our overall defense has also improved.”
Green Hope led from start to finish in the first set behind the power serves of O’Connor and Chloe Ruffieux for a 25-17 win.
Jordan lost more than just the second set when senior outside hitter Samantha Raburn hit the floor hard and did not return. With Raburn sitting on the bench with an ice-bandaged right shoulder, Green Hope took advantage and the set, 25-16.
“If you’ve seen our lineup all season, you’ll know we’ve been playing with scotch-taped and bandaged players the past few games,” Jordan coach Erik Hofheinz said. “And then not having Samantha in the lineup hurt us even more. We had a hard time closing points out.”
But Jordan didn’t throw in the towel.
Trailing throughout the third set, Jordan scored three straight points on senior libero Layla Richani’s serve to tie the set at 18.
Green Hope rallied to pull back ahead 21-18 before Jordan took one of its few leads in the match at 22-21 with four straight points.
But the Falcons defense shut out Jordan the rest of the way for the 25-22 sweep.
“We’ve dug ourselves in the hole early all season, so we felt we could come back,” Hofheinz said. “But with stronger teams like Green Hope, it gets harder and harder to fight back, and it caught up with us today.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Green Hope upends Jordan on the road in NCHSAA volleyball playoffs."